Ranking the 5 best players in La Liga history

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

La Liga is one of the most popular football leagues in the world. Though the Premier League has marched ahead in terms of sheer excitement, La Liga is still regarded as home to the most technically proficient players on the planet.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most successful football clubs in the history of the sport. They continue to produce and feature some of the greatest players to play the game. The fact that La Liga teams have won the Champions League on 10 occasions in the 21st century is a testament to their dominance.

La Liga continues to be home to some of the best technicians in football

Even today, La Liga clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona continue to be dream destinations for football players across the globe. We have seen both clubs field some of the strongest teams in the history of the game. They have consistently been replete with some of the greatest players of all time.

Even though ranking the greatest players in La Liga history is quite a daunting task, we've decided to give it a shot. Let's dive right into it.


#5 Xavi

FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC - La Liga
FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC - La Liga

Xavi Hernandez epitomizes the sort of technical ability that has made Spanish players stand out from the rest of the crowd. A product of the famed 'La Masia', Xavi was the architect in chief behind Barcelona's success in the 21st century.

Xavi was a central midfielder who could do everything he was required to do with grace and elan. He has won every major trophy that is to be won with both club and country and will go down in history as one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

The Spaniard was so skilled on the ball that during Barcelona's peak tiki-taka years, he and his teammates would run rings around the opposition and pass the ball around them like they didn't exist.

Manchester United's legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson has lost two Champions League finals to a dominant Barcelona side. Subsequently, he said:

“It wasn't really Messi who was the problem. It was Iniesta and Xavi. They can keep the ball all night long.”

In his 17-year career with Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles, three Copa Del Reys, and four Champions League trophies. In the 2008-09 season, which was arguably the best phase of his career, Xavi registered a whopping 20 assists in La Liga.

The diminutive midfielder's vision and passing range is the stuff new players ought to study and try to emulate. Xavi is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in La Liga history.

#4 Andres Iniesta

FC Barcelona v CA Osasuna - La Liga
FC Barcelona v CA Osasuna - La Liga

Outrageous technical ability combined with tactical intelligence and a cool head. That is Andres Iniesta. The pair of Xavi and Iniesta is arguably the best central midfield duo in the history of the game.

Following the fall of big stars like Ronaldinho and Deco, Barcelona needed new players to step up. They got a lot more than they bargained for with Iniesta. The Spaniard was crucial to Spain's and Barcelona's dominance in the 21st century.

Iniesta was a joy to watch on the football field. He could navigate cul-de-sacs with the grace of a gazelle and upend entire defences with his ability to play incisive passes. He also had a penchant for stepping it up on the big stage. Iniesta famously scored Spain's extra-time winner in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

By the time he called it a day on his Barcelona career, Iniesta had won nine La Liga titles, four Champions League titles, six Copa Del Reys, six Supercopa de Espanas. Fans and critics still feel that Iniesta was robbed off the Ballon d'Or in 2010 which eventually went to his teammate Lionel Messi. Iniesta came second.

#3 Alfredo Di Stefano

Di Stefano
Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stefano is the player that helped Real Madrid establish themselves as the ultimate powerhouse in world football. Following one of the most controversial transfer sagas in the history of the game, Barcelona let go of the opportunity to sign him. But it was a decision which would come back to haunt them.

Di Stefano went on to score 216 goals in 282 league matches for Real Madrid. He also scored in five consecutive European Cup finals for Los Blancos, a feat still unsurpassed. He is one of the most skilful, tactically versatile and technically astute strikers in the history of the game.

Di Stefano won the Ballon d'Or twice in 1957 and 1959. He won eight La Liga titles, five European Cups and one Intercontinental cup with Real Madrid.

#2 Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Final
Real Madrid v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Final

Had Cristiano Ronaldo stayed on at Real Madrid, he could have perhaps even topped the list. A serial winner and record breaker, Ronaldo is considered one of the greatest football players of all time.

We are blessed to have watched the timeless Ronaldo-Messi rivalry unfold in its full glory. Both players made each other better as they went neck-to-neck for all available records and trophies available while playing for arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Ronaldo has scored a total of 450 goals in 438 appearances for Real Madrid since joining from Manchester United in 2009 for a then record £80 million deal. Ronaldo won four Ballons d'Or at Real Madrid and finished as the runner-up on five occasions.

He won four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles and two Copa Del Reys with Real Madrid. But Ronaldo was far more influential than even that incredible trophy haul would have you believe.

His blistering pace and trickery helped Real Madrid play some of the best football their fans have ever witnessed. He transformed Los Blancos into one of the most dominant forces in the history of the Champions League.

Ronaldo's talent on the ball, ability to adapt, evolve and sustain his levels for almost a decade make him one of the greatest players in the history of the Spanish top-flight.

#1 Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona v Atletico de Madrid - La Liga Santander
FC Barcelona v Atletico de Madrid - La Liga Santander

The jury is out on who is the greatest footballer of all time. But Lionel Messi clearly wins the debate around who is the greatest player in La Liga history. A one-club legend, Messi has spent his entire career at Barcelona helping them stay at the very top with his wizardry on the football pitch.

Messi has it all. Speed, technical ability, vision, passing range and the mentality to keep improving. He is arguably the best dribbler in the history of the game. At the peak of his powers, he was a one-man army. Messi would tirelessly take defenders on, beat them and toy with goalkeepers with his incredible shooting range.

He has also become one of the finest free-kick takers in the history of the game. When it comes to sheer technical quality, it is nearly impossible to find someone who is as good as Lionel Messi. He has won a record six Ballons d'Or.

Messi has also won 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League titles and seven Copa Del Reys. He also holds the record for the most number of La Liga hat-tricks with 36 to his name. Messi also holds the record for the most number of goals scored in a La Liga season with 50 in 37 appearances in the 2011-12 campaign.

At 33 years of age, he won the La Liga Golden Boot in the 2020-21 season with 30 goals to his name which was seven more than second-placed Karim Benzema. He is still the very best in the Spanish top-flight and he is so by quite some distance.

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith